

COPYRIGHT DEPOStn 
























PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 
IN SALESMANSHIP 


Constructive Salesmanship 

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES 

By 

John Alford Stevenson 

Second Vice-President of the Equitable 
Life Assurance Society of the United 
States; Vice-President in Charge of 
Sales Executives Division of the Ameri¬ 
can Management Association. 

Constructive Salesmanship fills a need long 
felt in the selling world for a book which 
would combine: 

1. The development of a simple and definite 
method of procedure through each step of the 
selling process. 

2. A pooling of the experiences of successful 
salesmen—showing not only what methods of 
securing prospects, obtaining the interview, 
holding attention, and getting the order have 
proved to be effective but also why these 
methods have proved effective. 

Price $3.00 

HARPER & BROTHERS, New York 

Established 1817 




Problems and Projects 
in Salesmanship 


By 

JOHN ALFORD STEVENSON, Ph.D. 

Second Vice-President, Equitable Life Assurance 
Society of the United States 



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HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 
MCMXXIII 





H Fs~ +38 

■S L 85* 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 
IN SALESMANSHIP 


Copyright, 1923 
By Harper & Brothers 
Printed in the U. S. A. 

First Edition 

z-x 



SEP 25 73 


©C1A760035 




\ 




This Book is Dedicated 
To 

The Young Men and Women who 
are earnestly striving to prepare 
themselves to render a high order of 
service in Salesmanship. 



I 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Introduction . ix 

Preface . xix 

I. Salesmanship—Problems and Projects . i 

II. Preparation for the Sale — Problems and Projects.. ii 

III. Prospecting—Problems and Projects. 23 

IV. The Approach—Problems and Projects. 27 

V Analysis of a Sales Interview—Problems and Proj¬ 
ects . 31 

VI. Managing the Interview—Problems and Projects.. 34 

VII. The Sales Talk—Problems and Projects. 37 

VIII. Meeting Objections—Problems and Projects. 41 

IX. The Close—Problems and Projects. 45 

X. Service to Customers—Problems and Projects. 49 



















INTRODUCTION 


Too often much of the instruction given to prospective 
salesmen has followed the methods used in teaching the 
geography class described by Horace Mann. 

“It recently happened in a school within my own knowl¬ 
edge/’ said the great educator, “that a class of small 
scholars in geography, on being examined respecting the 
natural divisions of the earth, its continents, oceans, 
islands, gulfs, etc., answered all the questions with ad¬ 
mirable precision and promptness. They were then asked, 
by a visitor, some general questions respecting their les¬ 
son, among others, whether they had ever seen the earth 
about which they had been reading; and they unanimously 
declared in good faith that they never had.” 

Schools of commerce have furnished their students 
with volumes on methods and problems of marketing, and 
companies have provided vast stores of technical informa¬ 
tion regarding their products. All this information is 
valuable and interesting, but, at the same time, it is highly 
important that those who are planning to earn their 
living in the selling world should be taught how to sell. 

The statement that concrete information on the selling 
process should be given to prospective salesmen seems per¬ 
fectly obvious. Yet it has been this side of the question 
which has been neglected. 


IX 


INTRODUCTION 


Training Methods Used at the School of Life Insurance 
Salesmanship at the Carnegie Institute of Tech¬ 
nology. 

When the School of Life Insurance Salesmanship was 
started at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, the idea 
failed to interest many insurance men because, as they 
said, they “wanted salesmen, not actuaries.” In other 
words, too many of the classes organized for life- 
insurance salesmen had provided the students with a large 
amount of technical information about life insurance and 
very little information about selling. But the aim of this 
School of Life Insurance Salesmanship was to turn out 
salesmen. 

Of course, we did include in the curriculum thorough 
instruction on the technical phases of life insurance. But, 
in addition, we made a study of what successful salesmen 
thought a man ought to know in order to be able to sell 
insurance. 

If the course could have been organized ideally, we 
would have listed the opinions of two or three thousand 
successful salesmen and one or two thousand unsuccessful- 
salesmen on what constituted the job of selling, and what 
were the difficulties involved. From this information it 
would not have been difficult to make an analysis of the 
work of the salesman. Unfortunately, we had neither 
the time nor the money to make this type of investigation, 
so we did the next best thing. We made a study of all 
the articles which had appeared in life-insurance journals 
during several years to find what was considered impor¬ 
tant by those engaged in life-insurance selling. From this 

x 


INTRODUCTION 


mass of unorganized material we were able to get a large 
number of articles which appeared to be worth while as 
far as information on the selling process was concerned— 
articles on the approach, on meeting objections, how to 
manage the interview, and how to close; also articles on 
the various ways in which insurance proved to be of 
value, in order to show to salesmen the extent of and pos¬ 
sibilities in their field of work. We chose this material 
because whenever a man makes an unusual sale, some 
journalist is sure to come along and say: “That was an 
interesting sale. You ought to write it up for the jour¬ 
nal.” We were practically sure, therefore, that the sales 
methods and plans described were methods and plans that 
had actually been used. 

In addition, we did ask many successful salesmen to 
describe their methods, how they found prospects, how 
they would present this or that proposal, how they met 
this or that objection, and what methods proved to be 
successful in closing cases. 

It is astonishing what definite information can be gained 
in this way. For instance, when we started out it seemed 
as though there were thousands of objections to life in¬ 
surance. But when a large number of people were asked 
to list their objections, all the objections given could be 
classified under twenty heads; that is, these same twenty 
objections occurred over and over again in one form or 
another. 

It was fairly obvious that if a life-insurance salesman 
was going to meet these twenty objections over and over, 
if they were to form one of his chief difficulties, he should 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 


be supplied with answers to these objections. We asked 
a number of salesmen, therefore, to answer these objec¬ 
tions and chose the best answers to supply to the students 
as part of their selling equipment. 

All the material which we gathered together on in¬ 
surance, the uses of insurance, and on selling methods 
was classified and organized in usable form. Instead of 
merely giving the men information on how sales were 
made, however, we insisted that they put into practice 
what they had learned. In other words, we realized that 
mere knowledge about selling was not sufficient training; 
the men must be trained how to sell. 

A certain part of each day was spent by each student 
in actual soliciting and then the difficulties of those who 
“couldn’t get in to see the fellow” or whose interviews 
had ended with an unanswered objection, were analyzed 
and, usually, their particular faults corrected. 

The results of the schools of life-insurance salesman¬ 
ship organized on this plan have been very satisfactory. 
Since no absolute standard of success exists, it is impos¬ 
sible to state that such and such a per cent have been 
successful. But, since the compensation of life-insurance 
salesmen is on a commission basis, it is reasonable to 
assume that those who are still in the business are making 
a living or they would have dropped out, and we may, 
therefore, adopt this standard as our measure of success. 
Ordinarily, about one man among thirty untrained men 
is “successful” at life-insurance selling, while the other 
twenty-nine fall by the wayside. As far as we can judge 

from incomplete records, about sixty per cent of those 

• • 

. Xll 


INTRODUCTION 


who have been graduated from these life-insurance 
schools are “successful.” 

Purpose of “Problems and Projects in Salesmanship” 

Since Constructive Salesmanship was planned primarily, 
as a text for classes in general salesmanship, the sale of a 
particular commodity could not be taken up in detail. 
Likewise, the Problems and Projects in Salesmanship 
cover a wide field. These “problems and projects” are 
intended as suggestions to the type of class work which 
will be most valuable rather than as an outline for work 
which should be followed absolutely as given. In schools 
of general salesmanship the instructor may find it desir¬ 
able to use the assignments suggested, but in cases where 
Problems and Projects in Salesmanship is used by a 
particular company in its training classes, obviously better 
results will be obtained if the questions and assignments 
are adapted to the particular commodity to be sold. For 
example, if the prospective salesmen of a certain com-, 
pany, instead of being asked to outline the information 
to be used in a manual for an adding-machine company 
(Chapter II, Problem 2), are asked to outline this in¬ 
formation for the company which employs them, the work 
will naturally have more practical value. Likewise, the 
problems referring to the approach, to managing the 
interview, the sales talk, meeting objecticns, and the close 
should all be tied up with the selling of the company’s 
commodities. 

• • • 

Mil 


INTRODUCTION 


Salesmanship Training Given by Companies 

The work of gathering together the material adapted to 
meet the needs of a particular group of salesmen, such 
as the salesmen of a particular company, does not involve 
tremendous effort nor serious difficulty if the experienced 
salesman will co-operate in this work. 

The average salesman will probably give a rather in¬ 
definite answer if he is asked to give an analysis of the 
work in which he is engaged, and the combined replies 
of a group will elicit very little concrete information. On 
the other hand, if a number of salesmen are asked to list 
the difficulties which they have encountered and to out¬ 
line the methods by which they have overcome these diffi¬ 
culties, the material should provide essential information 
for the training program. If they will describe their in¬ 
dividual methods of finding prospects, of making the ap¬ 
proach, of handling the interview, if they will list the 
objections which they encounter and their methods of 
meeting them and will outline methods which have proved 
successful in securing the order, the instructor could not 
ask for material of more practical value. This is just 
the type of material that should be used in any selling 
course. 

Even when usable material is provided, the opportunity 
for practice which is an essential feature of the schools of 
life-insurance salesmanship is too often neglected. No 
college in the country would allow a man to play on a 
football team with a rival college if the only instruction 
given him had been in the form of a booklet on “How to 


xiv 


INTRODUCTION 


Play Football, ” or a few suggestions by his coach. It is 
equally unreasonable to expect a man to be able to sell 
if he is merely presented with a sales manual and is given 
no supervision by his manager. If, on the other hand, the 
sales manager will take the trouble to follow up the work 
of the training classes, will offer suggestions occasionally 
as to where prospects may be found, will go with sales¬ 
men whose records do not show the progress they should, 
and will criticize their methods of approach, of handling 
the interview, of meeting objections, of closing, it is safe 
to say that a reduced turnover among salesmen will repay 
him for his efforts. 

By no means, of course, is this method of training 
salesmen new or unique. A number of sales organiza¬ 
tions follow much this same plan. It may even be said 
that the most effective training given to salesmen has 
always combined practical information on selling and 
practice in selling. 

Salesmanship Training Given in Universities 

When the classes in salesmanship include prospective 
salesmen for all types of commodities, as in the various 
schools of commerce, the problem of providing concrete 
material for study and opportunity for practice presents 
more or less difficulty. Business organizations do not 
wish to engage salesmen temporarily in order to give 
them experience, since the novice’s attempts at selling may 
make trouble for the company and may antagonize other¬ 
wise good prospects. Every possible opportunity for the 
acquiring of selling experience, however, such as the offer 

xv 


INTRODUCTION 


of a department store to employ extra salesmen for a few 
days, during rush season^ should be utilized. 

Probably the most important contribution which can 
be made by the instructor toward the success of the 
prospective salesmen who attend his classes is to impress 
on the mind of each and every one of them the im¬ 
portance of analyzing his particular difficulties and con¬ 
centrating his efforts on overcoming these particular 
difficulties. 

Constructive Salesmanship represents a pooling of the 
experiences of successful salesmen in various fields; that 
is, the difficulties encountered by numerous salesmen have 
been classified and the solutions for the difficulties offered 
by these and other salesmen have been brought together 
in this book. A study of the material, therefore, should 
go far toward the elimination of the general types of diffi¬ 
culties which prove to be stumbling blocks in the path of 
successful selling. Also, the work done in connection 
with the Problems and Projects in Salesmanship should 
go far toward overcoming many individual difficulties 
which exist in the case of individual salesmen. 

If, for instance, a salesman has difficulty in obtaining, 
an interview when sent to interview a public official, 
the sales manager of a store, or some other person in 
the course of his work, he may not know what is de¬ 
manded in the way of “good manners and good form” 
and may need the most elementary sort of instruction. 
If he is unable to write an interesting sales letter or sug¬ 
gest copy for an advertisement, his mind may be lazy 
about originating ideas and he may need practice in writ- 

xvi 


INTRODUCTION 


ing on imaginary subjects or in writing out imaginary 
sales talks. If he seems to be afraid of the sound of his 
own voice or if he is unable to collect his thoughts in a 
debate, he needs to be called on to speak before the class* 
when topics have been assigned and when they haven’t, in 
order that he may overcome this fear. 

The instructor in a school of general salesmanship is 
handicapped somewhat through having to teach men to 
sell when there is little opportunity for practical experi¬ 
ence. But he has considerable advantage over most of 
the instructors employed by companies in being able to 
spend more time in helping students to overcome indi¬ 
vidual difficulties, since less time, on the part of students, 
usually has to be devoted to the work of earning a living. 
Therefore, if the work of training has been handled skill¬ 
fully, the salesmen who have done their preliminary work 
in a business school are enabled to start on their selling 
careers, with many of their individual difficulties partially 
or wholly eliminated or, at least, with a knowledge of 
what these difficulties are. They are in a better position, 
too, to analyze the difficulties which exist in the sale of a 
particular commodity and to overcome the difficulties 
through the help of experienced salesmen or the sales 
manager. 

Responsibility and Opportunity of the Instructor 

Even though the idea that salesmen are born, not made, 
had been generally discussed, no one would expect an in¬ 
structor, whether university instructor or sales manager, 
to produce the same results in the case of every student 

xvii 


INTRODUCTION 


any more than he would expect an instructor in a medical 
school to be able to teach all students to be equally good 
physicians. In both cases training will help, but the final 
result depends on factors outside the control of the 
instructor. 

The salesman who inherits a strong constitution, whose 
environment has been such that he has come in contact 
with all sorts of people, or whose education has broadened 
his point of view, obviously has an advantage over the 
salesman who lacks these qualifications or opportunities. 
Nevertheless, instructors who equip their prospective 
salesmen with adequate information on the selling process 
and sales managers who give to prospective salesmen care¬ 
ful supervision and assistance during their practice work, 
are able to prevent many disasters which would otherwise 
occur in the world of sales. It follows, also, that when 
the chances of success among individual salesmen in a 
company are increased, the chances of a high turnover in 
the company are decreased. Moreover, through the me¬ 
dium of the training class the instructor is given a 
wonderful opportunity to add to the already large number 
of salesmen whose genuine service to customers has raised 
salesmanship to the rank of a profession.. 


xviii 


PREFACE 


It would have been a rather difficult task, a few years 
ago, to have interested salesmen, particularly sales man¬ 
agers, in any kind of formal instruction in salesmanship. 
Managers considered that salesmen were born and not 
made, hence there was only one way to find out whether 
you could sell or not, and that was by trying. If you 
succeeded you were a natural-born salesman; if you 
failed, you were not cut out for selling. While there may 
be a few individuals now who contend that salesmen 
are born, not made, still the idea of training salesmen has 
taken a fairly prominent place in sales organizations. 

It is generally recognized now that the foundation of 
successful salesmanship is not natural aptitude, but a 
thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of 
salesmanship. 

Assuming that this is a fair statement of the case, 
there is then a need for sales material which can be used 
in the instruction of salesmen in the fundamentals of 
selling. 

Most of the books on salesmanship have followed one 
or the other of two plans. The first plan presented the 
writer’s individual ideas on salesmanship in the form of 
dogmatic statements or principles without much illus¬ 
trative material. 

The second plan usually was a recital of interesting 

xix 


PREFACE 


sales experiences without any attempt to state underlying 
principles. A course in selling based on material organ¬ 
ized on the first plan lacked concrete material, while a 
course based on the second plan lacked sufficient consid¬ 
eration to principles. 

The writer in his book, Constructive Salesmanship — 
Principles and Practices, has attempted to bring together 
in one volume actual experiences from many fields of 
selling, with a summary of some of the more fundamental 
principles of salesmanship. 

The purpose of Constructive Salesmanship is not to 
point out primarily the author’s ideas of selling, but to 
show what methods successful salesmen have used. 

The methods described in Constructive Salesmanship 
of securing prospects, obtaining the interview, holding the 
attention of the prospect, and getting the order are not 
“trick ways’* of making individual sales. They are, 
methods which salesmen have found to be effective in 
building a permanent clientele. 

The principles of successful salesmanship are outlined 
in order that the salesman may know how to adapt the 
numerous suggestions to the type of selling in which he 
is engaged. 

Problems and Projects in Salesmanship was written 
primarily to accompany Constructive Salesmanship . It 
may be used, however, in connection with any other text 
or course in Salesmanship. The purpose of Problems and 
Projects in Salesmanship is to furnish concrete problems 
in selling for class discussions and larger projects to be 
assigned for outside work. 


xx 


PREFACE 


This book may be used as a guide to the teacher in 
conducting the course. It can be used effectively by the 
student or reader as a study course. 

A number of the additional assignments will require 
considerable time and effort to prepare. The writer be¬ 
lieves that if these problems and projects, together with 
the collateral reading, are done thoroughly and are related 
to the individual salesman’s problems, he will have gone 
far in obtaining a working knowledge of the fundamental 
principles of selling. 

The writer wishes to stress especially the advisability 
of relating this course to the salesman’s daily problems. 
It is very difficult to teach effectively a course in salesman¬ 
ship unless the students are actually selling at the time or 
else making some provision for selling experience while 
taking the course. 

Practical experience in selling is absolutely necessary 
if the course is for the purpose of developing salesman¬ 
ship ability rather than the mere acquisition of knowledge 
about successful selling. Assuming that the purpose of 
salesmanship courses is to develop salesmen, it is im¬ 
perative that actual participation in selling be provided. 
Just as it is necessary to go into water to test the value of 
swimming instruction, so it is necessary to face actual 
prospects to determine the value of salesmanship 
instruction. 

John A. Stevenson. 

New York City, 

June 30, 1923. 


xxl 












PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 
IN SALESMANSHIP 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN 
SALESMANSHIP 


CHAPTER I 

SALESMANSHIP 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter I, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
1-28. 

1. What would be your definition of salesmanship? 

2. Explain what is meant by the statement that in for¬ 

mer times salesmanship was governed by the idea 
of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). 

3. Do you consider that the salesman is a producer? 

Give the reasons for your answer. 

4. Who, in your opinion, has commanded the largest and 

most permanent following among the American 
people? What qualifications made this possible? 

5. What personal qualities other than those listed do you 

think would make for success in selling? 

6. Charles M. Schwab, in Succeeding With What You 

Have, says: “The man who attracts attention is 
the man who is thinking all the time and express- 

1 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

ing himself in little ways.” How would this re¬ 
mark apply to selling? 

7. The statement is often made that everybody is a sales¬ 

man—the lawyer, the doctor, the minister, the 
teacher. Comment on this statement. Show in 
what ways each of the classes above has need for 
selling technique. List six other occupations. 
Would knowledge of salesmanship be valuable to 
these occupations? How? 

8. “Constructive Salesmanship” is not the art of per¬ 

suading people to buy commodities, but the art of 
selling commodities to meet genuine needs. Dis¬ 
cuss fully these two divergent points of view in 
selling. Is the tendency in business to-day toward 
constructive salesmanship ? 

Read carefully the two following statements: Do the 
statements agree with the spirit of Constructive 
Salesmanship ? 

(1) The heart center of a salesman’s job is to 

open the eyes of his prospect to the' essential 
service which the commodity can perform 
for him as an article to be resold at a profit 
or to be retained for utility, pleasure, or 
happiness. 

(2) Salesmanship is the act of presenting the 

commodity in such a way that people will 
purchase. 

9. Give an illustration showing how the salesman’s 

imagination made the sale. Consider the com- 

2 


SALESMANSHIP 


modity you are selling or are planning to sell and 
see if you can find a new need for it. 
io. In the light of the principles thus far presented dis¬ 
cuss this statement, “Orders are secured not by out¬ 
arguing the prospect, but by approaching the ques¬ 
tion from the prospect’s point of view.” 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

Note to Instructor: The development of the 
qualifications necessary for successful selling, nat¬ 
urally, is work which should be carried on through¬ 
out the course. The suggestions, therefore, are not 
intended merely for the first few lessons, but for 
the work of the entire course. 

I. The following are the first four qualifications which 
managers are asked to consider in selecting sales¬ 
men for a large sales organization. They indicate 
their opinion in answer to each question by making 
a cross (X) on the line, just where they think it 
ought to be. For example, if in Question i the 
manager thinks the prospective agent is a little 
lower than indicated by the statement “appearance 
satisfactory,” but not quite low enough to be re¬ 
corded “gives somewhat unfavorable impression,” 
then he puts the cross on the line somewhere be¬ 
tween these two points. 


3 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 


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SALESMANSHIP 


Make a chart listing the ten qualifications which you 
consider most important for successful salesman¬ 
ship, giving descriptive statements (as shown 
above) which would help the interviewer in deter¬ 
mining to what extent each of these qualifications 
was present or lacking. 

2. Indicate your opinion of yourself in regard to each 

qualification listed on this chart. 

Note to Instructor: List qualifications in which 
a number of prospective salesmen show weakness 
and those in which particular salesmen indicate de¬ 
cided weakness as a basis for “developmental 
work.” Assignments 5-8 are suggested for devel¬ 
oping qualifications necessary in selling and where 
individual students show particular weakness spe¬ 
cial training should be given. 

3. (Self-confidence.) 

a. Give a five-minute talk on Training for Salesmen. 

b. Arrange an informal debate on “The Varsity 

Letter is more to be desired as a business asset 
than the Phi Beta Kappa Key” or on “Compen¬ 
sation for Salesmen Should Be on a Commis¬ 
sion Basis.” 

4. (Energy.) 

Make a careful chart of how every hour during the 
week is spent. Does it show an average of “eight 
hours’ work, eight hours’ sleep, eight hours’ play” 
per day? If not, how could the schedule be re¬ 
arranged on a more efficient basis ? 

5 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

5 - (Tact.) 

If during the course of an interview you should find 
that you were not talking to the person in whom 
the purchasing power of a company lay, but who 
liked to display authority, how would you find out 
the right person to see and terminate the first inter¬ 
view without arousing ill-feeling? 

6. (Enthusiasm.) 

Give a speech which is designed to move a group of 
people to give money or services: Army Enlist¬ 
ment during a War; Funds for Destitute Families 
after a Disaster in a Foreign Country; A Vacation 
Camp for Partially Disabled Veterans. 

7. (Imagination.) 

Write a short paper on one of the following topics: 
Methods of Transportation a Thousand Years 
from To-day; A Substitute for Electricity. (Any 
purely imaginary topic will serve this purpose.) 

8. (Agreeable Manner.) 

Interview one of the leading merchants in your com¬ 
munity, asking him what qualifications he considers 
essential when hiring salesmen. Make a report 
of the interview to the class, whether you are suc¬ 
cessful in seeing the man or not, and outline briefly 
the conversation which took place. 

9. Prepare an advertisement which you would insert in 

a city newspaper if you wished a position as sales¬ 
man with a large manufacturing firm. 

10. Give a brief oral or written report on the Trade 
Guilds in the Middle Ages; Modern-day tendencies 
in Salesmanship. 


6 


SALESMANSHIP 


The following account of Benjamin Franklin’s 
method of Developing Traits of Personality is 
enlightening: 

“It was about this time,” he relates in his auto¬ 
biography, “I conceived the bold and arduous 
project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished 
to live without committing any fault at any time ; 
I would conquer all that either natural inclination, 
custom, or company might lead me into. As I 
knew, or thought I knew, what was right and 
wrong, I did not see why I might not always do 
the one and avoid the other. But I soon found 
that I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than 
I had imagined. While my care was employed in 
guarding against one fault, I was often surprised 
by another. Habit took the advantage of inatten¬ 
tion. Inclination was sometimes too strong for 
reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere 
speculative conviction that it was our interest to 
be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent 
our slipping and that the contrary habits must be 
broken and good ones acquired and established 
before we can have any dependence on a steady, 
uniform rectitude of conduct.” 

He then describes the measures he took to accom¬ 
plish his desired end: 

“I made a little book in which I allotted a page 
for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red 
ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day 

7 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

of the week, marking each column with a letter 
for the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen 
red lines, marking the beginning of each line with 
the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line 
and in its proper column, I might mark by a little 
black spot every fault I found upon examination 
to have been committed respecting that virtue upon 
that day. 

“I entered upon the execution of this plan for 
self-examination, and continued it . . . for some 
time. I was surprised to find myself so much 
fuller of faults than I had imagined, but I had the 
satisfaction of seeing them diminish.” 

From this statement would you say that Franklin 
believed that a pleasing personality could be devel¬ 
oped? Would Franklin approve of the ten prob¬ 
lems that have just been studied under additional 
assignments ? 

12. The following assignment is one of the most impor¬ 
tant in this entire book. It will appeal especially to 
those who are really interested in developing a 
satisfactory personality. To complete this assign¬ 
ment may take years. It is worth it. A good time 
to start it is now. The whole class should enter 
into the spirit of it. 

Make a very thorough analysis of yourself to find out 
both the strong and weak points in your personal¬ 
ity. Since your own opinion may be biased, it is 
well to check yourself up by having two or three 

8 


SALESMANSHIP 


of your more intimate friends make a similar diag¬ 
nosis of your strong and weak personality points. 
After a tentative agreement on these points you 
should give careful consideration first to your weak 
points. Each weak point constitutes a problem for 
you to solve. Take up your weak points one by 
one and see if you can find ways and means of 
improving on each particular shortcoming. 

Take up your first difficulty listed. Go to a number 
of persons, probably some members of the class, 
and ask if they have ever been faced with such a 
difficulty. If so, ask how they overcame it or how 
they are combating it now. This method is one 
practical solution for you. You should collect a 
number of solutions to each difficulty. Of course, 
you should select the one or ones which you think 
would be best suited to you. It isn’t enough merely 
to know your shortcomings and have solutions for 
them; you must start right in to correct them. 
Since it is so largely a personal matter, you can’t 
always be certain about your improvement. You 
should have one or two people to check you 
constantly. The teacher could be one if time per¬ 
mits. One of your intimate friends would be satis¬ 
factory provided this friend has sufficient courage 
to tell you frankly just where you stand. Seek 
every opportunity to get a clear picture of your 
difficulties, to find practical methods of overcoming 
personality shortcomings, to put the solutions into 
practice, having some one check you for improve- 

9 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

ment. The class should start this project im¬ 
mediately. 

13. Make a thorough study of Prof. E. E. Ferris’s excel¬ 

lent book, Developing Sales Personality. List the 
suggestions discussed by him which will aid you in 
improving your sales personality. 

14. Read the autobiography of some great man or 

woman. Write a summary commenting on the 
individual’s personality. Were there any helpful 
suggestions showing how this personality was im¬ 
proved or developed ? (Salesmen should read bio¬ 

graphical stories frequently.) 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Ferris, Elmer E., Developing Sales Personality, pp. 
1-57; published by Prentice-Hall, New York City. 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 1-91; 
published by the Norval A. Hawkins Business Service, 
Detroit, Mich. 

Deland, Lor in F., Imagination in Business; published 
by Harper & Brothers, New York City. 

Schwab, Charles M., Succeeding With What You 
Have; published by The Century Company, New York 
City. 

Leigh, Ruth, The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 
3-40; published by D. Appleton & Company. 


CHAPTER II 

PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter II, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
29 - 54 . 

1. If you were soliciting subscriptions for the Saturday 

Evening Post , what information do you think you 
should have before starting out? 

2 . If an adding machine company asked you to outline 

the information which should be included in their 
sales manual on the machines manufactured by the 
company, what items would be included in your 
outline ? 

3. What is meant by the statement that “the successful 

salesman of the present day is the salesman who 
has learned to talk in terms of his prospect’s 
needs”? 

4. If you were trying to sell high-grade securities to the 

head of a large publishing firm in New York City, 
what information would you try to get about your 
prospect and how would you get that information? 

5. If you were selling silks for Thomas Stone & Com¬ 

pany, wholesale silk merchants, what information 
should you have about the jobbers whom you went 

11 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

to interview? How would you get this infor¬ 
mation ? 

6. If you were selling Persian rugs in a large Fifth 
Avenue store, what information should you have 
about your product, how would you plan to get it, 
and how would you try to find out your prospective 
customer’s interests? 

7. Do you consider that the man whose sales tactics are 
described on page 53 of Constructive Salesmanship 
was a good salesman? Give the reasons for your 
answer. 

8. Distinguish between the following terms: prospect, 

customer, buyer, client. 

9. What relation does the following statement have to 

the subject of preparation: “It is as much your 
duty to be able to recognize a need for a certain 
type of insurance as it is the duty of the physician 
to be able to recognize a need for a certain kind of 
medical treatment. Moreover, if through your lack 
of knowledge of the needs which life insurance 
serves, you fail to point out how life insurance 
could meet the particular need of an individual, 
and a preventable catastrophe occurs, don’t you 
realize that you are to blame? If, for instance, 
you fail to point out the need for an educational 
policy in a particular case, and if through your 
neglect a man’s son is deprived of his college edu-« 
cation, doesn’t the blame really rest upon you?” 
Do you agree with this position? 

12 


PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


IO. You may hear that it isn’t necessary to study your 
profession of selling. Can you give a single good 
reason why a salesman should not be thoroughly 
prepared? Let the class discuss fully, bringing in 
objections the members have heard to training 
salesmen. 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. The company which you are planning to represent 

wishes to include in its sales manual a chart show¬ 
ing the points on which it wishes its salesmen to be 
well informed. Present the chart which you think 
should be used. (Choose any company if you 
are not planning to sell a particular product.) 

2. One of the large department stores in Chicago wishes 

to find out how much the employees know about 
the store, the policy of the store, and the goods 
they are selling. A separate questionnaire is pre¬ 
pared for each department. Prepare the question¬ 
naire for clerks in the men’s clothing department. 

3. Clip from the morning newspaper an article which 

could be used as a selling point for a certain type of 
selling. 

4. The Crescent Electrical Sweeper Company wishes to 

run an advertisement in the local papers of towns 
having a population under 5,000. They will have 
to make the appeal in terms of the interest of the 
readers of the paper. Write this advertisement. 

5. A college paper wishes to publish an article on 

Modern-day Salesmanship, emphasizing the differ- 

13 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

ence between the present-day policy of training the 
salesman and the old-fashioned way of letting him 
shift for himself. Write this article. 

6. Keep a list of the questions which customers ask you 

about the commodity you are selling. If you are 
not selling, go to some clerk in a store and ask what 
questions are asked about the commodity. Com¬ 
ment on this method of getting at the information 
one should have for any position. 

7. Study this statement: “Don’t talk about your com¬ 

modity; talk about what your commodity will do 
for people. Concentrate on why people need your 
service. If your prospect doesn’t need a certain 
thing, why should he buy it? If he doesn’t think 
about why he needs it, he won’t be conscious of any 
need for it; and if you don’t talk to him about why 
he needs it, how is he going to think about needing 
it? The prospect will have his mind on whatever 
you talk about. If, in the main part of the inter¬ 
view, you talk about the technical or mechanical de¬ 
tails of your commodity or dwell on the price, or 
on any other points which do not help to make it 
clear that your prospect needs the service of your> 
commodity, you will not hold his interest.” Pre¬ 
pare a sales presentation illustrating each type de¬ 
scribed. Which one appeals to you as the more 
effective? Which one would you take pleasure in 
presenting? 

8. Select a commodity you would like to sell and 

(a) make a complete written analysis of the needs 

14 


PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


which this commodity would fill; (b) add the facts 
about the history of the company and (c) the man¬ 
ufacturing processes of the product which would 
help you in making sales. 

9, The importance and value of preparation of a char¬ 
acter which will aid the salesman in showing the 
prospect the need for service is well illustrated in 
the following, taken from How to Start Selling, 
published by The Equitable Life Assurance Society 
of the United States. Discuss the relative merits 
of each presentation. (This presentation can be 
adapted, with little change, to many types of com¬ 
modities. Because of this it has been given in its 
complete form.) 

The old way of selling life insurance, now discarded by 
leading salesmen, was to‘talk to a prospect about a par¬ 
ticular kind of policy. Often the agent would select the 
Ordinary Life policy, the 20-payment Life policy or the 
20-year Endowment policy as being the most interesting 
policy from his point of view, and would go from pros¬ 
pect to prospect, day in and day out, simply explaining 
the most interesting features of the policy. A great deal 
of insurance has been sold in this way, but much energy 
and time has been wasted and, in thousands of cases, the 
salesmen succeeded in placing much smaller amounts of 
life insurance than were really needed and less than the 
prospects could afford to carry. Compare the two para¬ 
graphs which follow and decide for yourself which 
method is calculated to arouse the greater interest 

15 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

(1) “Mr. Young, I represent the Equitable Life As¬ 
surance Society. We have issued a new form of policy 
which contains some very interesting features. It is a 
straight life contract for $10,000, furnishing the greatest 
protection at a minimum cost. At your age, 45, the pre¬ 
mium would be $435.20 a year. In case of your death 
the policy would pay $10,000 in cash to your wife and if 
you should become totally and permanently disabled, it 
would pay an income of $100 a month to you as long as 
you live. In addition to this, premium payments would 
be waived after you became totally disabled so that your 
family would be relieved of this burden. In case you 
should decide to quit at any time, your policy would have 
a cash value. For instance, at the end of 20 years, the 
cash value would amount to $4,410. However, you 
might not want to withdraw the cash value if you stopped 
paying premiums, but might prefer to have the company 
continue your insurance for as long as the cash value 
would extend it. If you should stop at the end of ten 
years, the $10,000 of insurance would be continued in 
force for 10 years and 7 months without your paying any 
further premiums and if you should die during that time 
the entire amount would be paid just as if the premiums 
had been paid each year. The policy is incontestable after 
one year, and it contains no restrictions as to residence, 
travel, or occupation. 

(2) “Mr. Young, I represent the Equitable Life As¬ 
surance Society. I came in because I felt sure you would 
be interested in our income service to beneficiaries, which 
is one of the chief advantages of Equitable contracts. 

16 


PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


“Yesterday I was talking with a gentleman who is mar¬ 
ried and who has two little children. He told me that he 
already had all the life insurance he needed—$10,000. I 
asked him what was his purpose in carrying this insur¬ 
ance, and he said, ‘To take care of my family, if I should 
die.’ Now that is what you and I have in mind when we 
get our lives insured. You don’t care anything about the 
insurance itself. You are interested in what it will do 
for your wife and children. They will have to pay bills 
every month for living expenses, just as you do now. I 
showed this gentleman that his $10,000 invested at 6 % 
would yield his family only $600 a year, or $50 a month, 
and he saw right away that this life insurance wouldn’t 
pay his family’s bills. We then went over this U. S. 
Government Family Expense Budget of $100 a month, 
which I am sure will interest you. 

$1200 A YEAR—$IOO A MONTH 

Number in the Family 



Two 

Three 

Four 

Five 

Savings . 


$ 7 

$ 5 

$ 3 

Rent . 


16 

16 

16 

Food . 


34 

4i 

48 

Clothing . 


14 

15 

15 

Housekeeping expenses . 


9 

8 

7 

Churches, charity . 


5 

3 

1 

Health, recreation, education ... 


8 

6 

5 

Personal, miscellaneous . 

8 

7 

6 

5 

Total for Month . 


$100 

$100 

$100 


“You are married and have one child, so we will look 
at the second column, as you would have to provide for 
three persons. The amount given for rent is $16, but we 

17 













PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

can add to this the $7 indicated here for savings, as you 
would not expect your wife and child to save anything on 
$100 a month. This would give a total of $23 a month 
for rent. It would take at least that much to pay rent, 
wouldn’t it? Then you see that $34 is allowed for food. 
You and your wife and child couldn’t get enough food for 
less than $34 a month, could you? The allotment for 
clothing for two people is $14 a month; $9 a month for 
housekeeping expenses; $5 a month for churches and 
charities; $8 a month for doctors’ and dentists’ bills, 
recreation and education; and $7 a month for personal 
and miscellaneous expenses. These figures total $100 a 
month. That is really about the smallest monthly allow¬ 
ance three persons could live on, isn’t it? 

“The insurance plan which I recommend for you will 
provide money for certain necessary expenses that your 
wife will have to meet at the time when the bills must be 
paid. This program provides, first, for a payment of 
$2,000 in cash at your death. The purpose of this cash 
payment is to make it possible for Mrs. Young to pay 
your outstanding bills and to take care of doctor’s bills 
and funeral expenses. You see, the first need that a 
man’s family has for money after his death is to take 
care of all these items and unless such bills can be paid 
promptly the wife will be anxious and worried until they 
can be settled. One month after a man’s death his 
widow will receive certain bills. At present you get bills 
at the end of every month for rent, food, clothing and 
expenses of all sorts and you pay them as they fall due, 
but some day Mrs. Young may have to pay them herself. 

18 


PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


At the end of every month, year in and year out, as long 
as she lives, there will be bills to pay and this plan will 
provide a cash income at the end of each month as long as 
she lives, in order to enable her to pay her bills promptly. 

“This program provides for two kinds of payments: 
$2,000 in cash at your death and $100 a month as long as 
your wife lives. 

“Since you probably keep as much capital invested in 
your business as possible, we will put the insurance on the 
Ordinary Life plan, which furnishes permanent protec¬ 
tion at the lowest rate. At your age, 45, the annual 
deposit for the $2,000 in cash (with double indemnity 
and disability income) will be $87.04 (Blue Book, p. 24). 
If your wife is 40 years old, the annual deposit for the 
$100 a month life income will be $838 (including waiver 
of premium, disability income and double indemnity), 
(Blue Book, p. 233). The total annual deposit is 
$925.04. Of course, this will be reduced, beginning with 
the third premium, by the annual refunds. 

“The deposit is small compared with the possible bene¬ 
fits. For instance, suppose you should die now, after onf 
payment of about $900, and that your wife lived to be 80 
years old, she would get $2,000 in cash and draw a total 
income of 40 times $1,200, or $48,000, a total of 
$50,000. Wouldn’t that be a remarkable result? If 
your wife died after drawing less than 20 years’ income, 
the Equitable would continue to pay $1,200 a year to your 
daughter until a total of $24,000 had been paid. Twenty 
years’ income is guaranteed, whether your wife lives that 
long or not. The least the Equitable could pay on the 

19 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

income policy would be a total of 20 times $1,200 or 
$24,000; but $100 a month would be paid as long as your 
wife lived, even if she lived to be more than a hundred 
years old. This plan guarantees living expenses—guar¬ 
antees that the postman will deliver a check for $100 every 
month as long as she lives, to pay her bills as they fall 
due. And that is just the kind of service a man wants 
when he takes out insurance for the protection of his 
family, isn’t it?” 

In the first “sales talk” the agent devotes his time to 
the policy; and, while he does bring out to some extent 
what the policy will do, he fails to concentrate his effort 
on the beneficiaries’ needs as he does in the second sales 
talk. In the latter, the burden of the story is the family’s 
specific needs for food, shelter, clothing, and other things, 
and how the insurance program will enable the wife to 
pay her monthly bills for these things, as long as she lives. 

After the prospect understands what his family really 
needs, how little $100 a month will do, and yet how im¬ 
portant it is to guarantee at least this much, the agent then 
shows a definite plan to furnish the money for expenses 
at the time it is needed. Then he shows the amount of 
the premium deposits. At this stage he would also* 
explain what the policy would do for the prospect himself, 
showing the cash value of the policy at the end of, say, 20 
years, when the prospect would be 65 years old and might 
need funds himself; also the advantages of the waiver of 
premium; the disability income of $100 a month for the 
prospect himself in case of total and permanent disability 

20 



PREPARATION FOR THE SALE 


and the double payment of both cash and income ($4,000 
in cash and $200 a month as long as the beneficiary lives) 
if he should be killed as the result of an accident. 

The prospect will be very much interested in these 
details after he understands his family’s needs for the 
insurance and wants to give them the protection which it 
will afford them. 

The above sales talk (2) is based on the needs of the 
beneficiary. Except for those occasions on which you 
buy something “just to help somebody out” everything 
that you buy is purchased for the purpose of filling some 
want or need of which you have become aware. As a 
rule, people do not spend their money for things that they 
think they don’t need. On the other hand, there are very, 
few people who won’t spend their money for anything 
which they believe will supply a need and will give them 
great satisfaction. 

Most of us are not interested in money for the money 
itself. We want money only because money gives us the 
power to get things that we need: food, clothing, shelter, 
education, amusements, and the many other things that 
help to make us comfortable and happy. 

Likewise nobody cares anything about life insurance 
for itself. Men are interested in life insurance because 
life insurance will provide money, which will make it pos¬ 
sible to obtain food, shelter, clothing, education, recrea¬ 
tion and the many things that one’s family will need to 
make them comfortable and happy. 

So if you want to be sure always of talking to your 
prospect about something that will give him an interest in 

21 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

life insurance, do not emphasize life insurance first. In¬ 
troduce the subject of life insurance, talk about the spe¬ 
cific things his family will need, which only money can 
buy, and then show him that life insurance is the best, 
and, in many cases, the only means by which he can guar¬ 
antee that they will have the money when it is needed. 
Show him that, if he expects to have a competency in old 
age, it is indispensable that he begin now to save money 
regularly and invest it where it will always be safe, and 
earn a fair increase, and that life insurance is the ideal 
plan for such a purpose. 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Ferris, Elmer E., Developing Sales Personality, pp. 

59 -$ 9 - 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 92-119. 
Whitehead, Harold, Principles of Salesmanship, pp. 97- 
104; published by the Ronald Press, New York. 

Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail, pp. 19-27; 
142-156; published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Bos¬ 
ton. 

Leigh, Ruth; The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 

41-86. 


22 


CHAPTER III 


PROSPECTING 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 
Based on Chapter III, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 

55-87- 

1. If you wished to send a letter to the prominent fami¬ 

lies in a large city announcing a sale of antique 
furniture, what list would you use and how would 
you get it? 

2. If you were selling electric sewing machines from 

wholesaler to dealer in a territory largely composed 
of small towns, how would you get your prospects ? 

3. By what method do you think you would get most of 

your prospects if you were selling typewriters from 
manufacturer to user? Why would you choose 
this as a trial method? 

4. If you were selling cooking utensils from manufac¬ 

turer direct to user, what plans could you suggest 
for obtaining lists of prospects? 

5. If you were selling a particular type of office equip¬ 

ment and wished to start an “endless chain” of 
prospects, how would you begin ? 

23 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

6. Name several commodities which could best be sold 

by using the “Center of Influence” method of pros¬ 
pecting. 

7. If you were employed as a salesman for the company 

which you would like to represent if you had your 
choice among all companies, what method of pros¬ 
pecting do you think would be most effective in 
selling its commodities? Why? 

8. In making a survey of your own community, as a 

guide for the work of prospecting, what types of 
information do you think would be of value? 

9. (a) Give your definition or description of what con¬ 

stitutes a prospect? 

(b) If you were making a telephone appointment 
with a man to try to sell him the idea of buy¬ 
ing property in a new suburban section, what 
would you say? 

10. What plan have you evolved for getting friends, 
acquaintances, and customers to put you in touch 
with prospective purchasers ? 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. Clip from the daily newspaper a notice or article 

which would give you the name of a person whom 
it might be possible to interest in the sale of real 
estate. 

2. List the interests which you have which would fur¬ 

nish you with possible prospects. 

3. Write a form letter which might be sent to a list of 

doctors in a large city advertising a small car which 

24 


PROSPECTING 


is especially adapted to their use. How would you 
proceed to get the list of names to whom the letter 
should be mailed? 

4. Make out the prospect cards, both the permanent and 

the working cards, which you would use in bond 
selling, including on the cards the items on which 
information would be useful. 

5. Write a form letter that could be sent out, signed by 

the various clerks in the men’s clothing department 
of a large retail store, calling the attention of their 
former customers to a particularly fine assortment 
of overcoats. 

6. Assume that you have a list of prospects about whom 

you can get little information and it seems neces¬ 
sary for you to call on them much as if it were a 
cold canvass proposition. Write the presentation 
you would make for such a cold canvass interview. 

7. List a number of factors which would make these 

statements by Norval A. Hawkins seem perfectly 
reasonable. 

“The fault usually is due to failure in utilizing all 
the opportunities for Prospecting which might be 
used without diminishing in any degree the amount 
of time that can be spent in actual selling.” 

“It is a mistake to relegate prospecting to a place 
of minor importance in Salesmanship. Prospect¬ 
ing is major work, just as essential as any other 
part of selling.” 

8. How is the following story related to the Subject of 

Prospecting? 


25 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

“An automobile salesman realized that what he was 
really selling in his territory was transportation 
facilities; the roads, however, were poor. He de¬ 
voted a lot of time and energy to the good-roads 
idea. In fact he was the leader of this movement.” 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling, Section III, 
“Prospects”; published by the Gregg Publishing Com¬ 
pany, New York. 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 120-146. 


26 


CHAPTER IV 


THE APPROACH 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter IV, Constructive Salesmanship , pp. 
88-127. 

1. Do you agree with the statement that most sales are 

won or lost during the first five minutes of the 
interview? Give the reasons for your answer. 

2. Why is the approach of the Davey Tree Expert Sales¬ 

man (p. 89) effective? 

3. If a meat-slicing machine company should ask you to 

give it an example of a good standard approach 
that it could suggest to its salesman, what approach 
would you suggest ? 

4. Suppose you were selling the stock of a company 

which you considered has a very valuable product 
to put on the market and wished to interview one 
of the executives of a large manufacturing plant. 
If the man’s secretary stated that she could not 
arrange an appointment unless you explained what 
you wished the appointment for, would you state 
your business or would you avoid a direct answer, 
if possible? Give the reasons for your answer. 

27 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

5. If you stated the reason for your call and the execu¬ 

tive sent word that he was not able to see you, what 
would be your reply to his secretary ? 

6. If you had made an appointment with a real estate 

agent to talk over an advertising contract, but when 
you arrived found several men talking to him in 
the office, what would be your method of pro¬ 
cedure ? 

7. If you were on the road selling vacuum cleaners direct 

from the manufacturer to user, how would you 
plan to open the conversation? 

8. If you were a salesman in a shop which carried high- 

grade letter paper, how would you make your ap¬ 
proach to a woman who apparently was making her 
first visit to the store? 

9. If you were selling a device to be used on automo¬ 

biles which you considered would be of value to a 
company having a large number of trucks on the 
road, since it would make its trucks last longer, 
how would you open the interview with the pur¬ 
chasing agent? 

10. Give an example of an approach which shows the 

‘‘You Attitude.” 

11. Explain how you consider that cards should be used 

in making the approach. 

12. What is your opinion of the following approach: 

“Could I interest you in a vacuum cleaner that 
would sweep cleaner than the old broom you are 
now using?” Give the reason for your answer. 

28 


THE APPROACH 


ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. Show how the “You Attitude” was used effectively in 

Mark Antony’s speech as given in Shakespeare’s 
“Julius Caesar.” 

2. Bring to class an example of a short story which has 

a good opening. 

3. Walk through a department store and listen to the 

approaches of various salesmen. Bring to class an 
example of a good approach and a poor approach. 

4. Interview some one who employs salesmen, a depart¬ 

ment store manager, general sales manager of a 
manufacturing company, or one of the executives 
of an organization which markets its products 
through salesmen, on the subject of what methods 
are used by that company in training salesmen. 
Bring to class a report of your interview stating 
whether or not the man was hard to see; what 
tactics you used in obtaining the interview (if you 
did not succeed, report the conversation just the 
same) ; what were the opening remarks; whether 
or not the interview progressed satisfactorily after 
the opening remarks were made. 

5. Give the informal address you would make if you 

were called upon at a sales convention to talke for 
ten minutes on the subject of “The Approach.” 


REFERENCE READINGS 

Kitson, Harry D., The Mind of the Buyer, pp. 29-43, 
77-88; published by The Macmillan Company, Nevtr. 
York. 

29 


/ 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

Hall, Wilbur, The Salesman s Kindergarten , pp. 153- 
179 on “How Is Your Approach?”; published by Alfred 
A. Knopf, New York. 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 147-223. 
Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling, Section IV, “So¬ 
licitation.” 

Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail , pp. 173-179. 
Leigh, Ruth, The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 

131-140. 


30 


CHAPTER V 

ANALYSIS OF A SALES INTERVIEW 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter V, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
128-155. 

1. Was the preparation which Harrington made for the 

interview worth while? Point out the value of the 
various items of information. 

2. Do you consider that Harrington’s approach was 

good? Why? 

3. Did Harrington take the “You Attitude” throughout 

the sale? Give an example of the effect of the 
“You Attitude” in overcoming Alderson’s objec¬ 
tions. 

4. Suggest a way by which Harrington might have 

avoided the termination of the interview other 
than through the use of the fifty-cent piece. 

5. Was it good policy on Harrington’s part to give 

Alderson the opportunity to explain the trust busi¬ 
ness to him? Why? 

6. Could you suggest a better approach than that used 

by the retail salesman in the interview which took 
place in the men’s clothing department ? 

3i 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

7. Why was it good policy for the salesman in the retail 

store to ask the customer to try on the suits? 

8. Point out examples of the “You Attitude” on the part 

of the retail salesman. 

9. Give two illustrations showing how a salesman util¬ 

ized the prospect’s hobby in the sale. 

IO. Show how you propose to emphasize service to your 
customer in the sales presentation. 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. Analyze the famous speech of Patrick Henry before 

the Virginia Convention showing why this speech 
made a powerful appeal. 

2. Read carefully the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mat¬ 

thew, Chapters V, VI, and VII). Why, apart 
from its religious significance, is this considered 
a remarkable sermon? 

3. Before buying the next article which you purchase 

at a store make it necessary for the clerk to “sell 
it to you”—that is, raise several objections or ask 
several questions. Make an analysis of this inter¬ 
view, showing why the salesman was able to make 
the sale or why he failed. 

4. Write the article you would send in if the editor of 

the “house organ” of a large manufacturing com¬ 
pany should ask you to give your opinion on “The 
Value of Preparation in Selling.” 

5. Write a sales interview you have had in selling some 

commodity. Base the interview on experiences 
you have had, bringing in prospect’s objections. 

32 


ANALYSIS OF A SALES INTERVIEW 


If you haven’t had any experience write an imagi¬ 
nary interview. Analyze the interview just 
written. 


REFERENCE READINGS 

Whitehead, Harold, Principles of Salesmanship, pp. 

233 - 2 56 ; 337 - 343 - 

Scott, Walter Dill, Influencing Men in Business, pp. 
19-36; published by The Ronald Press Company, New 
York. 

Kitson, Harry D., The Mind of the Buyer, pp. 89-96. 


33 


CHAPTER VI 


MANAGING THE INTERVIEW 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based upon Chapter VI, Constructive Salesmanship, 
pp. 156-190. 

1. The founder of a large manufacturing company 

(Charles B. Manville, founder of Johns-Manville, 
Inc., asbestos manufacturers) stated recently in an 
interview that a large number of people had been 
induced to buy the worthless oil stock of a certain 
company because his name appeared on the list of 
stockholders. Why was this appeal effective? 

2. Why do most department stores send notices to 

patrons saying that sale goods will be on display 
for patrons before the sale is announced to the 
general public? 

3. Why do you think the advertising slogan for Wood¬ 

bury’s Soap, “A Skin You Love to Touch,” has 
been effective? 

4. How did Harrington use Alderson’s associated inter¬ 

ests in making a life-insurance sale? 

5. From what you know of the psychology of human 

behavior, explain why Billy Sunday is able to influ¬ 
ence large numbers of persons? 

34 


MANAGING THE INTERVIEW 


6. If a man were selling securities, why would a neatly 

typed proposition, presented in connection with the 
sales talk, sometimes make a strong appeal? 

7. To what instinctive interest did the clerk re-selling a 

child’s dress appeal (pp. 182-184)? 

8. (a) Describe a situation in which you consider that 

suggestion would be more powerful than reason in 
making the sale and explain why. (b) Describe a 
situation in which you consider that reason would 
be more effective and explain why. 

9. If you were selling electric washers directly to the 

users, what type of appeal would you plan to 
make ? 

10. If you were selling high-grade flower seeds in a large 
department store, what appeals would you make if 
it became necessary to sell this particular variety 
of seeds to a customer? 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. Pick out the advertisement which appeals to you most 

in the current issue of the Saturday Evening Post. 
Why do you consider that this advertisement is 
especially good? 

2. If Mr. Brown came in a store to get a fall hat, how 

would you determine the style and type of hat he 
wished to buy? Write out the remarks which 
you might use. 

3. Suppose you represented a first-class New York pho¬ 

tographer and were sent through the suburban dis¬ 
tricts during the summer months, to try to sell to 

35 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

people the idea of having their photographs taken 
in their own homes. Write out the type of ap¬ 
peals you would plan to use. Give examples of the 
way you would use suggestion and reason. Do 
you think, in general, that reason or suggestion 
would be more effective ? Why ? 

4. If the advertising department of a large men’s cloth¬ 

ing store asked you to suggest copy for a men’s 
straw-hat advertisement to be inserted in a college 
weekly, how would you word the copy and what 
illustration, if any, would you use? 

5. Suppose you were soliciting subscriptions for a 

woman’s fashion magazine; list the various types 
of appeals that might be used. 

6. As a prominent member of your community you have 

been asked to address a large group of citizens in 
order to urge a much-needed public library. Pre¬ 
pare the speech and try it out before the class, using 
those appeals which you consider will be most 
effective. 


REFERENCE READINGS 

Kitson, Harry D., The Mind of the Buyer , pp. 97-168. 
Scott, Walter Dill, Influencing Men in Business,, pp. 

39-H2. . 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 224-249. 
Leigh, Ruth, The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 
99-128. 

36 


1 


CHAPTER VII 


THE SALES TALK 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter VII, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
191-269. 

1. If you were writing a book on salesmanship, what 

motives would you give as the “buying motives’’? 

2. For what reason do you think that Mr. O. W. Bartlett 

put off mentioning the machine he was selling until 
he had progressed quite far in his interview? 

3. If you were instructing a class of prospective sales¬ 

men for the Fuller Brush Company, and wished 
them to realize the importance of using the stan¬ 
dardized sales talk, how would you try to convince 
them of the value of the talk? Give your explana¬ 
tion in detail. 

4. Why are the letters from prominent business men 

particularly valuable to the Alexander Hamilton 
Institute salesmen? 

5. Do you consider that the “Wear Ever Salesman” 

talks in terms of his prospect’s interests? 

37 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

6. If you were instructing a clerk who was to be tem¬ 

porarily employed during the season before Christ¬ 
mas in the department in which Victrolas were 

sold, what would you tell him about this sales talk ? 

7. If you had planned to sell a type of machinery to a 

man and found that a company with the products 
of which you were not entirely familiar had quoted 
a lower price, what would you do ? 

8. How would you proceed in the midst of an apparently 

successful sale of bonds, if one of the business 
associates of the prospect should try to persuade 
him to invest his money in another way? 

9. Outline a sales talk for the sale of a life-insurance 

policy to guarantee the son’s college education.. 
Show particularly the motives you would appeal to. 

10. Why do you consider it important to give the pros¬ 

pect a chance to talk during the sales talk ? 

11. Substitute specific statements for these generalities; 

(a) This is the best sweeper on the market to-day; 

(b) You couldn’t get a better car than this; (c) 
This property is in a fine location. 

12. If you were selling cream separators what sales points 

would you plan to use? 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

I. Note the amount of time that you actually spend in 
reading during the following week. How does 
this check up with the records on pp. 200-201 ? 
Give the sales talk you would use if you were on the 
road selling the Book of Knowledge. (Note to 

38 


2. 


THE SALES TALK 


instructors: Students will see the value of prepara¬ 
tion for the sales talk if they are called upon to give 
the sales talk to the class before they have had the, 
opportunity to make any preparation and then are 
called upon to give the same sales talk after the 
preparation of the sales talk has been assigned.) 

3. Results show that the sales talk of Mr. O. W. Bart¬ 

lett was effective. Make an analysis of this sales 
talk, like the analysis of the interview between 
Harrington and Alderson, showing why it was 
effective. 

4. Analyze the sales talk of the Fuller Brush Company, 

pointing out the method used in demonstrating 
each article. 

5. Make an analysis of the Alexander Hamilton Insti¬ 

tute sales talk, pointing out why the company in¬ 
cludes the appeals which are used. 

6. List the types of appeals which are used in the “Sales 

Talk of the Wear Ever Salesmen,” explaining why 
each would be effective. 

7. Outline the sales talk which you would suggest to a 

clerk in a store selling imported dresses. 

8. Diagram the sales talk used by the salesgirl in the 

glove department showing to what buying motives 
she made her appeal. 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Scott, Walter Dill, Influencing Men in Business, pp. 
115-186. 


39 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling, Section V, 
“Resistance”; Section VII, “Meeting Competition”; 
Section VIII, “Price.” 

Leigh, Ruth, The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 
140-162. 

Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail, pp. 243-260. 


40 


CHAPTER VIII 


MEETING OBJECTIONS 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based on Chapter VIII, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
270-308. 

1. Suppose you are on the road selling a new kind of 

portable typewriter. After you have explained the 
value of the machine, the prospect states that he 
might consider it some time, but is too busy to 
think about it now. If you believed his remark 
to be a mere excuse, what would be your line of 
procedure ? 

2. If you were a salesman for the American Slicing Ma¬ 

chine Company and your prospect said he didn’t 
sell enough sliced bacon to make the machine pay, 
how would you answer this objection by the “direct 
return?” 

3. Suppose you are selling Fuller brushes and the woman 

whom you are interviewing says she cannot con¬ 
sider the manicure brush because it is too expen¬ 
sive. You believe that she really considers it 
expensive without realizing its value. How would 

4i 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

you answer this objection using the “indirect re¬ 
turn.” 

4. If you were selling high-grade etchings in a depart¬ 

ment store and a customer informed you they were 
“fakes, not worth two dollars,” how would you 
answer him so that you upheld the reputation of: 
the store, but at the same time could not be accused 
of discourtesy? 

5. Give an example of a case in which your “Passing-up 

Method” would, in your opinion, be the best way 
of answering the objection. 

6. How would you consider the following objections if 

you were representing a company which was put¬ 
ting on the market a new kind of tooth paste: 

(a) Can’t handle it until you are better known. 

(b) Too many companies are putting tooth paste 
on the market now. 

(c) We won’t take it unless we are the only drug 
store that’s going to carry it. 

(d) You don’t do enough advertising. 

7. If you were selling office furniture and the purchasing 

agent claimed that the furniture manufactured by 
your company had proved to be unsatisfactory, 
what would be your line of procedure? 

8. If you were selling stationery to dealers throughout 

the country and met a dealer who offered no objec¬ 
tions, but yet refused to buy, what would you do? 

9. It is sometimes stated that objections instead of hin¬ 

dering the sale are usually aids. Can you justify 
this statement? Give an illustration. 

42 


MEETING OBJECTIONS 

10. In answering objections should you take the attitude 

of a debater? Discuss. 

11. What good answer could be found to the argument 

that by paying for a typewriter on the installment 
plan, the price is higher than it would be if the* 
payment were made in a lump sum ? 

12. If you were selling woollen goods wholesale and your 

company stood for quality rather than low prices, 
in what ways could you plan to answer the objec¬ 
tion that you would inevitably meet? 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. (a) List the objections which you think you would 

meet most frequently if you were selling Burroughs 
Adding Machines. 

(b) Bring together all the lists prepared by the vari¬ 
ous members of the class and find the ten objections 
most frequently given. 

(c) Answer each of the ten objections. 

(d) Compare the lists of answers and select one good 
answer to each objection. 

2. If you were writing a manual for a company which 

published a magazine for boys and which sent 
solicitors throughout the country, what common 
objections would you include and what answers 
would you suggest? 

3. Write an original answer to each of the objections 

listed in Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 304-307. 

4. If the Saturday Evening Post were to offer a prize 

for the best answer to the objection, “I always buy 

43 



PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

it at the newsstand/’ what answer would you send 
in? 

5. Write an article which you could send to a trade jour¬ 
nal on “Meeting Objections.” 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 250-275. 
Whitehead, Harold, Principles of Salesmanship , pp. 

153-165. 

Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling , Section VI, “Ob¬ 
jections.” 

Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail, pp. 261-289. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE CLOSE 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 
Based on Chapter IX, Constructive Salesmanship t pp. 

309-336- 

1. Do you consider that there is a psychological moment 

for trying to close? If so, how do you recognize 
it? If not, why? 

2. If you consider that it is possible to “test for the 

close” can you offer suggestions, other than those 
given in this chapter, as to how “try-out closes” 
may be made? 

3. If you were selling The Davey Tree Service and con¬ 

sidered that the prospect was about ready to close, 
what question might you ask which would get a 
decision on a minor point? 

4. Suppose you were a Fuller brush salesman and had 

given the talk as far as the close on p. 225, how 
might you attempt to get the decision by an “alter¬ 
native proposal” instead of using the questions 
suggested at the end of the talk? 

5. If you were the advertising manager of a department 

store which was to have a special sale of sweaters, 

45 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

what type of copy could you suggest for an adver¬ 
tisement designed to bring customers to the store ? 

6. If you were selling cash registers, in what way might 

you plan to get physical action from your prospect 
before the final attempt to close? 

7. If you were attempting to sell a new kind of fountain 

pen to the purchasing agents of large companies, 
how would you plan to ask your prospects to sign 
the order blank? 

8. Suppose you were attempting to sell bonds but had 

met with an apparent turn-down, what closing tac¬ 
tics would you use ? 

9. What remark would you plan to make in case you 

were turned down by a woman to whom you were 
trying to sell vacuum cleaners ? 

10. Suppose you were selling advertising space for a 
salesman’s magazine such as Printers’ Ink and the 
advertising manager of Harper & Brothers had 
signed a year’s advertising contract for the book 
Constructive Salesmanship. State exactly the re¬ 
marks which you would plan to make on leaving. 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

I. Lack of space made it impossible to include the com¬ 
plete Standardized Presentation of the Alexander 
Hamilton Institute’s Modern Business Course. 
Suppose, however, that you had given the talk as 
outlined on pp. 226-245, but that your final ques¬ 
tion had met with a refusal on account of cost. 
Write out the remainder of the talk you might give, 

46 


THE CLOSE 


showing how you would plan to swing back the 
sales talk and to lead toward a successful close. 

2. List three good closing points which might be used 

if you were selling American Slicing Machines and 
had given the talk as outlined on pp. 205-212. 

3. Suppose you received a questionnaire from an emi¬ 

nent psychologist asking you (1) to give an exam¬ 
ple of an article, a book, or a talk which had caused 
you to act on a certain idea, as, for instance, the 
talks of good Liberty Bond speakers caused nu¬ 
merous persons who had not intended to buy bonds 
to subscribe to the various loans; (2) to describe 
what the particular appeal was which forced you to 
action. What would be your reply? 

4. If you were instructing a class of retail salesmen and 

were discussing the subject of “The Undecided 
Customer,” outline the suggestions you would use 
in showing the salesmen how to deal with this type 
of customer and how to attempt to close the sale. 

5. Write the article you would send in if a magazine 

such as System asked you to contribute some prac¬ 
tical suggestions on the close. 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Hawkins, Norval A., The Selling Process, pp. 276-326. 
Whitehead. Harold, Principles of Salesmanship, pp., 

7<>i95- 

Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling, Section X, 
Closing the Deal.” 


47 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

Kitson, Harry D., The Mind of the Buyer, pp. 169-181. 
Leigh, Ruth, The Human Side of Retail Selling, pp. 
163-174- 

Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail, pp. 290-303. 


48 


\ 


CHAPTER X 

SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 

Based upon Chapter X, Constructive Salesmanship, pp. 
337-350. 

1. What would be your definition of service as applied 

to present-day salesmanship? 

2. Give a concrete illustration of how the service obliga¬ 

tion is implied in present-day selling? 

3. If you were the sales manager of a company selling 

electric washers, what types of service could you 
suggest to your salesmen? 

4. If you were the representative of a typewriter com¬ 

pany selling a high-grade machine and were met 
with the remark that the machine which had been 
tried by a certain company had been very unsatis¬ 
factory, and therefore it would not ever consider 
buying any more, what would be your line of pro¬ 
cedure ? 

5. If, as a successful bond salesman, you were assisting 

in the planning of a “Service Campaign” for the 
financial institution which you represented, what 
concrete suggestions could you make to the com¬ 
mittee ? 


49 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

6. If, as the head of the training department of a new 

retail store, you were giving to your clerks instruc¬ 
tions as to how to handle complaints, reasonable 
and unreasonable, what would you say? 

7. Suppose you had been a salesman in a bookstore for a 

long time and the sales manager asked you to sug¬ 
gest a plan by which you thought it would be pos¬ 
sible to increase sales through better service to 
customers. Could you outline a practical plan? 

8. What types of service are demonstrated by any sales¬ 

man? What, then, is “service plus”? Give an 
illustration to explain your meaning. 

9. In My Life and Work , by Henry Ford, this state¬ 

ment occurs: “Being greedy for money is the sur¬ 
est way not to get it, but when one serves for the 
sake of service—for the satisfaction of doing that 
which one believes to be right—then money abun¬ 
dantly takes care of itself. Money comes naturally 
as the result of service. And it is absolutely neces¬ 
sary to have money. But we do not want to forget 
that the end of money is not ease, but the oppor¬ 
tunity to perform more service.” Can you apply 
this philosophy to the business of Selling? 

10. Again this quotation from the same book: “A manu¬ 
facturer is not through with his customer when a 
sale is completed. He has only started with his 
customer. In the case of an automobile the sale of 
the machine is only something in the nature of an 
introduction. If the machine does not give serv¬ 
ice, then it is better for the manufacturer if he 

50 


SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS 


never had the introduction, for he will have the 
worst of all advertisements—a dissatisfied cus¬ 
tomer. There was something more than a tend¬ 
ency in the early days of the automobile to regard 
the selling of a machine as the real accomplishment 
and thereafter it did not matter what happened to 
the buyer. That is the shortsighted salesman-on- 
commission attitude. . . . And it is right on 
this point that we later made the largest selling 
argument for the Ford. The price and the quality 
of the car would undoubtedly have made a market, 
and a large market. We went beyond that. A 
man who bought one of our cars was in my opinion 
entitled to continuous use of that car, and there¬ 
fore if he had a breakdown of any kind it was our 
duty to see that his machine was put into shape 
again at the earliest possible moment. In the suc¬ 
cess of the Ford car the early provision of service 
was an outstanding element.” 

Discuss fully the value of this attitude in all kinds 
of business. What relation does this attitude on 
the manufacturer’s part have to the salesman’s 
problem ? 

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 

1. Prepare the material on service to customers which 

you think should be included in the sales manual 
issued to clerks in a large shoe store. 

2. Prepare the material you would submit if a large 

wholesale grocery firm, of which you were sales 

5i 


PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS IN SALESMANSHIP 

manager, asked you to prepare a leaflet to be issued 
to salesmen in preparation for a “Service to Cus¬ 
tomers week.” 

3. The review of a book on salesmanship published in 

one of the periodicals recently criticized the author 
for pointing out how to overcome the buyer’s re¬ 
sistance and at the same time calling salesmanship 
a profession. Write a review of Constructive 
Salesmanship for a magazine or newspaper, giving 
your views on the subject and showing why you 
consider that selling is or is not a profession. 

4. What remarks would you make if at a “Sales Con¬ 

gress” you were asked to speak for five minutes on 
“Tendencies in Present-day Business.” 

5. The members of the class are a committee appointed 

by the National Association of Salesmen to draw 
up a Code of Ethics for salesmen such as the codes 
drawn up for lawyers and physicians. Each mem¬ 
ber of the committee is to submit the “code” which 
he thinks should be used. The various codes are 
then to be compared and the final “Code of Ethics 
for Salesmen” is to be made up from a combina¬ 
tion of the most important points brought out in 
the individual codes. 

REFERENCE READINGS 

Stanger, Wesley A., Personal Selling, Section IX, 
“Service.” 

Kitson, Harry D., The Mind of the Buyer, pp. 185-200. 
Charters, W. W., How to Sell at Retail, pp. 305-316. 

52 



4 















4 
























